Category: STONES THROW

Interview: J. Rocc discusses his new album, “A Wonderful Letter”

J. Rocc has been a notable entity on the hip-hop scene for decades. As one of the original founders of The Beat Junkies way back in 1992, his impact on the culture has been undeniable. This month sees the release of his second studio album, A Wonderful Letter, which focuses on his home city of Los Angeles and the various scenes that exist within. Gingerslim spoke with J Rocc to talk about the making of the album, as well as the infamous L.A. beat scene, the art of turntablism and what the future holds for his city.

I want to talk about the album, A Wonderful Letter, because it’s almost upon us and I notice it’s been 10 years since your last full-length.

Yeah 10 or 11. There have been a few little things in between, but this is really only the second LP.

So why now and what prompted you to put out another record?

Really just [Peanut Butter] Wolf. He was like “Yo man, you need to make another record. Why don’t you make another record?”, so it was really just Wolf pushing me into it. It’s always been a thought, but then I just got caught up in DJing and touring. But then Wolf was always like saying I should make one and he’d put it out, so finally I got around to making it happen.

I’ve had the pleasure of listening to it over the last week or so and I’ve really been enjoying how varied it sounds. It’s definitely not a straight up hip-hop album. Was that part of your vision for it when you first came up with the idea?

Definitely. I didn’t want to do a full straight, boom bap hip-hop album. Also I didn’t just want to do instrumentals; I didn’t want to focus on just one thing. I wanted to cover everything I play, because I don’t just play hip-hop when I DJ. I may be thought of as a hip-hop DJ because that’s where I started, so I can’t front on that, but I like house, I like disco, I like RnB… I like all that and I wanted to touch on all of it.

Well it works well. I know the album serves as a sort of ode to Los Angeles, so I was wondering if it was tricky trying to compress a scene as expansive as that into just one album?

Not really. I just focused on the areas that meant something to me, so you’ve got the electro stuff on there with Egyptian Lover. That’s when I started getting into music, ‘83, ‘84, hearing him perform “Egypt, Egypt.” I remember buying that record and thinking this dude is killing it. So just growing up in all the different scenes and going to the raves we used to have out here. We used to be real big on the rave scene, back in the days when you’d pull up to a phone booth and somebody would give you a flyer, then you’d have to go to another place to get the ticket, then you finally get to go to the venue… and of course the beat scene, from Low End Theory to Sketchbook. There are so many different scenes and it just all goes together. Everybody knows each other, everybody is either a homie or an acquaintance. So it’s a big place, but a small world. You wouldn’t think the house club fucks with the hip-hop dudes, you  know what I mean? But you’ll see everybody at the clubs, everything mixes up anyway out here.

And is that an extension of the city’s ethos as a whole?

Yeah I think you can say that. Everywhere you go out here, there is a scene for something. But I guess it’s the same over there for you in the UK. Like people in Bristol aren’t going to London for the club, in the same way that people who live in Venice aren’t going to downtown L.A. So you may get another kind of a scene in Venice, but it’s still L.A. and it’s still going to be competition – or not really competition – but like, well if that club’s doing it, then why don’t we try doing it? So it’s super spread out, everything is hella far. But at the same time, everyone is super close and knowing what everybody else is doing.

Do you feel that the L.A. from your early days still exists?

To a degree, but everything changes. Electro is not what it was for example, but it’s still a scene. Gangsta rap isn’t what it was, but it’s still there. We just move on to different things and some people outgrow things, but we still pay homage to the past and it’s influenced everything up to this point. Going back to Egyptian Lover, he’s someone who’s still doing it. He came out in 1984 and he still put out an album last year! He’s still doing it and he ain’t changed. Still making 808 beats… he ain’t changed once! He stuck to his guns and I respect that. That’s what I love about LA, because you can stick to your guns and do what you do, and you’ll be accepted; people are still going to support you. He may not have “Egypt, Egypt” numbers going off, but at the same time he’s still touring, he’s still performing overseas. It’s a beautiful thing, man. So it’s changed a lot, but at the same time everybody still pays attention to the past and also to the future, thinking about what we can do next to continue to elevate the game out here.

And do you have any idea where that’s headed, what is coming next?

Actually, there’s a nice scene starting to pop off at Leimert Park. There’s a woman named Linafornia and she has her own day over there. She’s a beatmaker on an SP404… She’s like the female Ras G.

Oh shit, okay.

Yeah she’s bad, she’s dope. So there’s that and then we have another crew called Selection. They’re more 24-27 year olds, but you go there and you can get that battery in your back. You’re like, “Oh shit, that’s what the kids are listening to now?”. There are just so many little niches where you can go and explore. So really in L.A., there’s no telling what’s next because maybe somebody’s already doing it. Oh also, Serato does these beat meetups once a month, where someone will choose a sample and then like 20 producers come in, then use that same sample to make a beat. But it’s crazy because everybody’s on different beats! They’re like, “Sample this Bob James – Lucky Seven”, and you’re like, “That’s not even a good Bob James album, why am I going to sample this?!”. But then you hear everyone has a different ear and they all freak it! So yeah, L.A. is always expanding. There’s always something going on, or someone moving here and influencing L.A. Like Dilla, he moved here and influenced all of L.A. while he was here. Like BOOM and then he was gone and everybody was like, oh shit the master teacher’s gone and everyone had to figure out how to do it themselves again. Things are always evolving over here.

Now we’ve touched on the guests on the album, but your earlier works were all predominantly instrumental projects. What made you want to bring other artists into the mix for this one? Was that just part of the vision again?

Yeah, I didn’t just want to do beats this time. The first album was more or less me biting Endtroducing, because that’s the dopest instrumental album ever. But this time I needed to have some MCs and everybody that’s on the album are people that I’ve worked with already over the past couple of years – either done scratches for, or made a beat for at some point. So it was a case of saying well I’ve done stuff with all of these people, now I want them on my own album. I’m on their album, let’s put them on mine. And everybody was down! I sent them some beats, told them to pick whatever they wanted and we’ll make it happen.

So they all got to pick the beats? Because it sounded like a lot of them were tailor-made.

The Egyptian Lover was the only one that was made for the artist. I said I needed him on a track and we need to call it “Pajama Party.” We’d always talked about throwing a pajama party, because in the 80’s in L.A. there were pajama parties. Ladies would come out in their lingerie and guys would have their pajamas on; that was a real thing out here. Oh and the Budgie one was made for him. I had a sample and I told him I wanted him to sing over it, to do his thing with the Vocoder.

Well it worked out well, man. Just going back to the beat scene and talking about evolution, is that still the same as it was? Is it still as influential?

Yeah it’s still out there but it’s not as big as it was. Again shout out to Linafornia, she’s the one bringing it back. But ever since Low End Theory closed down it kinda killed that whole vibe. There’s no place like that, that you could go to and just hear instrumental beats. You might go to a club and hear a set like that, you might hear Daddy Kev, or The Gaslamp Killer doing a set that’s in the Low End vibe, but there’s no club that’s all that, all night. And that place was packed every night. 

So if it was so popular, why hasn’t someone taken the initiative and opened up another event like that?

I mean Daddy Kev has another night but, I don’t think he’s trying to bring it as another Low End Theory. I think he’s trying to create a new thing. I don’t know, maybe no one wanted to fill those shoes, you know? They’re big shoes to fill! Low End Theory had everybody come through, from Thom Yorke to Tyler, the Creator, and it became a legendary place. It didn’t start out like that of course, so maybe there might be something coming up that might be the equivalent to that and we just haven’t seen it yet…

Well yeah fingers crossed.

Yeah fingers crossed because we need something like that, but those two things I mentioned are children of the Low End Theory. It’s the same energy, just not in a club this time.

You’ve been a DJ since the early days, so I was wondering how you feel about turntablism as an artform. Is it dying out? I see a lot of people complaining that DJs as a whole have changed, the role of the DJ has changed, etc.

There are still people doing turntablism in their sets, but it’s not as DMC / ITF battle-wise as it used to be. You still get people like A-Trak, like Skratch Bastid, so there are still DJs that definitely keep that tradition and keep it alive. It’s not like what it was of course, but people still want to learn that. And that stuff is harder to learn for the new kids, on controllers or CDJs. You’re not doing the stuff we did on vinyl with that. You can try but it’s definitely not going to be the same. So there are a lot of cats still keeping that turntablism alive, but everyone is a DJ now. Everybody has a laptop, you don’t need to invest in records anymore; you don’t need to do any of that. When we were coming up you had to buy doubles of everything. You had to go to the record store Tuesday and Thursday, the day that the records came out. Now it’s just a download link, you’ve got the song on your computer and you’re ready to go. So it’s cool that everyone wants to play music, but at the same time the art of the DJ is going.

So do you embrace this new generation of DJs?

I love it, man. I just love music! I love going out and catching other DJs getting busy. If I get the chance, I love to hear what Kaytranada is playing out… there’s another club called Donovan’s Yard out here and they play everything. They started out as more of a reggae / dancehall club, but now they’re a lot more progressive. It’s as close to the UK as I’m going to get out there, without going to the UK. I embrace it all, man, I love it. They’re not taking anything away from me. They may take a festival or two away, but thank God I’m still able to survive and do what I like to do.

Yeah I think that’s the correct ethos to have. Embracing change rather than pushing it away. Now that’s almost it from me, man, but the album is almost here and summer is just around the corner, so what’s next for you?

I’ve got a couple of shows coming up in The States. I’m trying to link some stuff up out there in the UK and then I’ve got a couple in Japan already. This album is like my business card, so once it’s out to the public then I’ll have a lot more going on.

***

A Wonderful Letter is out this Friday, June 17, on Stones Throw, and you can purchase it here. Follow J. Rocc on Twitter and Instagram. 

Gingerslim has been a hip-hop fan since 1994 and has written for various blogs and websites since around 2006. During that time he has contributed to The Wire, style43, Think Zebra, Headsknow, Front Magazine and more. His main interests in rap are UK hip-hop and the underground movement in America, with a focus on Rhymesayers Entertainment and the once mighty Def Jux label. He lives in Bristol and has a beard. All other details are sketchy at best. Read his own hip-hop blog and follow him here.

Interview: Frank Nitt

Following the release of the new Frank N Dank album, St. Louis, we spoke to Detroit legend Frank Nitt about the new project, working with J Dilla, and more. Interview by Matt Horowitz.

In your opinion, what are the primary differences between the original/bootlegged 2003 MCA version of 48 Hrs/48 Hours and the widely-released 2013 Delicious Vinyl edition? 

The Delicious Vinyl version was the actual album as we intended. The 2003 version had extra songs and bad mixes.

Is it true J Dilla (then still known as Jay Dee) had to go back in and make more synth-driven beats, after MCA rejected the original sampled-based version of 48 Hours?

[laughs] No it was actually the opposite. We turned in the same version of the album that we put out via Delicious Vinyl, and the executive at the time said we love it but we need something more for the club and radio, and that is where “Take Ya Clothes Off” and “Off Ya Chest” came from. Unfortunately that executive left and went and signed Chingy to Capital, and the new exec, who was also the president, told Dilla he wanted more of his sampled driven beats because that’s what he knew him for. The original 48 Hours was recorded to more sample-driven beats but about seven songs in, Jay decided to strip all those beats and keep the vocals, and that’s where all the synth joints came from. Side note: he decided to change all the music after going to the studio while Dr. Dre was working on a D12 record in Detroit. After that he said “I’m about to play everything”. 48 Hours is the only sample-free J Dilla produced full album.

What’s the current status of your group, The Joint Chiefs, with DJ Rhettmatic? Do you fellas have any immediate plans to record and release a proper follow-up to your 2013 FWMJ/RIK EP, The Smoke Musik?

Ahh man, Rhett is my brother. Incredible dj/producer, better person! We have kicked around the idea of doing another joint., but Rhett is like a head of state, lol. He has a school, gigs, touring and still goes to lunch with his mom on sundays. It’s not easy to lock him down. If he reads this tho, I’m ready let’s gooooooo!

What’s one of your personal favorite J Dilla stories or moments from your time spent recording, hanging out, touring, etc. together that most people might not have ever heard about before?

One of the things that standout is a conversation we had one day sitting in his Lexus 450 outside the Nevada house. He told me “I wish I had a nigga like me when I was you”. At the time I didn’t get it, but later on, it’s like that old saying “Those who can’t do teach”. I had a teacher who was doing.. he not only showed me the game but showed me the pitfalls and traps in real time because he was still living it as he showed me.

How did yourself and Dankery Harv (AKA Dank, your partner in Frank-N-Dank) get involved in recording “McNasty Filth” from J Dilla & Madlib’s beloved album together as Jaylib, Champion Sounds?

At the time we were in the studio and hanging all the time anyway, so when he decided to do the LP and got a batch of beats from Madlib, we sat in the studio and went thru beats. We vibed to all of them but me and Dank didn’t vibe quite as hard to the “Mcnasty Filth” beat as we did to some of the others, and Dilla was like “ohhh y’all gotta write to this” [laughs]. He put the beat up and went upstairs for the night so we could record. I don’t think he thought we would be done by the a.m., but when he came back with the morning blunt we had our parts done. He actually put us out after that [laughs], because now he had to sit and write his parts.

What’s the current status of The F.D.R. Project featuring yourself, Dank, and Young RJ? Are there any plans for a proper follow-up to F.D.R. from Frank-N-Dank & J Dilla’s 2007 European Vacation CD+DVD set?

At this point we don’t have any plans to do anything new, but you never know.

Who did yourself and Dank recruit to submit production work for Frank-N-Dank’s latest effort, St. Louis? 

It started wwith King Michael Coy (Her, Dr. Dre, Anderson Paak). He did three joints, and we went to guys we worked with before like ToneMason, Lancecape and of course a Dilla joint (“Young Buck 1995”, made in 1995). And for that newness we went to Cazal Organism (son of Mellow Man Ace) and Japanese producer Mitsu The Beats, for that fire.

Do you ever see Frank-N-Dank’s J Dilla-produced stand-alone/non-album singles, such as “Move,” “Pause,” and “Push” ever being packaged together and re-released as a more full-length, widely-available project?

Maybe, but those are all on different labels. We would need a great level of cooperation to make that pop [laughs].

Have you spoken to Madlib since the release of your collaborative album, Madlib Medicine Show #9: Channel 85 Presents NITTYVILLE? Any chance of you guys reuniting for a follow-up? I would personally LOVE to hear you rhymin’ alongside Guilty Simpson again?

Madlib is my dude. We haven’t spoke about that but would I be down. Shit yea! And Guilty is a no brainer. I’m waiting on him to send me a joint for one of his projects now!

What was it like getting to work with more non-traditional Hip-Hop producers, such as DJ Sepalot for Fracture’s Outrageous EP and Dutch producers I.N.T. Kid Sublime, Wouda, Elsas, Y’skid & Kid Sundance on Frank-N-Dank’s The EP?

It was dope. I’m all for a little musical exploration., and all those guys have their own approach to making music and its fun for me to try to meld my style to theirs.

Who are the current artists signed to your imprint, Digipop’s roster and what’s your next planned label release?

We have Serious and my son Joz B (you can hear them on a few of my solo/group projects) – they both should be working as we speak. I gotta send em some beats though.

Aside from what we’ve already discussed thus far, do you have any additional high-profile collaborations, all-star team-ups, long-vaulted gems, etc. that have yet to be released unto the terribly unsuspecting masses?

We have a few things coming in 2020. And when I say we I mean the whole fam. I’ll be playing more of an executive role but bars a cometh as well as some new beats. Maybe a beat album. Stay tuned.

***

St. Louis by Frank N Dank is out now. Follow Frank Nitt on Twitter and Instagram.

Matt Horowitz has been a hip-hop fan ever since he first heard Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) back in the mid-90’s, which positively or negatively changed his life ever since, depending on who you ask. He single-handedly runs online music publication The Witzard, and has been fortunate enough to interview Eothen ‘Egon’ Alapatt, Guilty Simpson, Ice-T and Mr. X, Dan Ubick, Career Crooks’ Zilla Rocca & Small Professor, Cut Chemist, and J-Zone, amongst countless others. He enjoys writing about and listening to hip-hop, Punk/Hardcore, and Indie Rock on vinyl with his lovely wife, while drinking craft beer, red wine, or iced coffee. To paraphrase both Darko The Super and the Beastie Boys: “Already Dead fans, they want more of this… I’m a Witzard like my man Matt Horowitz!”. Follow Matt here.

Interview: DJ Rhettmatic

One of the most respected DJs and producers in hip-hop, Rhettmatic has been a fixture of the L.A. scene for decades through his solo work, as part of the Visionaries collective and as a member of the Beat Junkies. He recently talked to Matt Horowitz about projects new and old, production technique, touring with Dilla and more.

Following your 2011 collaborative mixtape/remix album/live EP, Bobo meets Rhettmatic, what’s next for your group, Cypress Junkies with Eric Bobo?

It’s been a hot minute since Bobo and myself have had a chance to work on new material.  The last joint production we did together was for Rakaa’s (of Dilated Peoples) solo album, Crown Of Thorns, called “Rosetta Stone Groove” featuring Noelle Scaggs of Fitz & The Tantrums. We also toured Europe a few years ago but Bobo has been really busy with Cypress Hill since their new album dropped and has been touring mad crazy. But we’ve been talking still about doing some new music and getting back on the road, doing some spot dates in the near future.

How did yourself and Bobo initially meet and decide to form Cypress Junkies?

I met Bobo along with B-Real in the late 90’s when I was one of the DJ’s spinning on their Soul Assassins Radio Show at a local radio station in LA called 92.3 The Beat. Babu & Melo-D were also the other Dj’s; we would do their mixes live in between guests and comedy skits. This is around the time of the Cypress Hill IV album days. If you don’t know the history of Bobo, he is the son of the legendary Latin percussionist, Willie Bobo. He also used to play for the Beastie Boys (he even had a song named after him, “Bobo On the Corner” on Ill Communication before he became the 4th official member of Cypress Hill), as well as doing production for Psycho Realm. Anyways, he was working on a solo album called “Meeting Of The Minds” and he always wanted to do a DJ/percussionist song. We’d become friends already because of my stint on the Soul Assassins Radio Show, but I was honored he asked me. The song was called “Bobo Meets Rhettmatic”.  When we performed the song at his release party, we realized that we might have something here. Then we were asked to perform for a benefit show in Los Angeles, and ended up being the headliner. We restructured our show to be more of a live element with more emphasis on the synergy between a DJ and a percussionist, and as we performed, we were really surprised by the response we got. Hence, “Bobo Meets Rhettmatic” was born; which eventually changed to Cypress Junkies (Cypress Hill/Beat Junkies affiliation). It was a big honor with B-Real giving  us the official blessing.

I’ve heard rumblings a new Visionaries album is currently in the early stages of creation, correct? What can you potentially tell us about your upcoming return?

Yes, the Visionaries are working on a new album. It’s been 13 years since our last album “We Are The Ones”, which dropped in 2006. A lot of our core fans have been asking us to make a new album but everyone got busy with their own individuals lives and music careers. Both Dannu & Key-Kool have families, LMNO has a couple of solo projects out along with having a new baby, as well as 2Mex & Zen having their own projects out. Plus 2Mex had his own health situation that he needed to take care of; he had one of his leg amputated because of diabetes a few years ago. Now he’s still moving forward with full force and living life. Me personally, I got really pretty busy with the Beat Junkies. The Visionaries have done shows here and there but we never really worked on a new group album just because whether we realized it or not, we needed a break as a group (or at least for me personally), even though we’re family.

As for the new album, we are tentatively calling it “Vintage”, as a return to our roots of just making music for fun and not overthinking things. The difference between this particular album and our other albums; I will be doing all of the production, where it used to be Key-Kool and myself being the chief producers and having our regular family of producers such as J.Rocc and Babu, to name a few. I like to think in the last 5-10 years that I’ve grown and improved as a producer compared to my past production. The guys always wanted to make a new album, but for me personally, I wasn’t really ready just because I was burnt out and wanted to expand more as a DJ, an artist, a producer, as well as a person. So to be transparent, the guys were really waiting on me to work on new material. Besides me growing as a human being, a DJ and a producer, a lot of family, friends, and even our heroes were passing away as well as dealing with our own situations separately. We were all getting older. In 2017/2018 is when we started working on new material and just learned how to record as a group again with no expectations, and have fun making music together. We’re almost finished….hopefully it will drop by the fall/winter of 2019, God willing. If not, at least some new music this year to set up the new album for the top of 2020.

In adittion to Cypress Junkies, Visionaries & Beat Junkies, you’re also, part of The Joint Chiefs with Frank Nitt (Frank n Dank.) What’s the current status of this project?

Frank is my brother! I met Frank n Dank at the Jaylib “McNasty Filth” video shoot. We’ve became real good friends during the time since I DJ’ed for Dilla in Europe for his last tour ever. It was really fun when we made the Joint Chiefs album; basically Frank just crashed at my crib for a whole week just to work on music. Each day, I would work on beats in one room while he was playing Nintendo in the other room, then when I finished with a beat, I would show it to him, he’d start writing then we would record. After the session, we would get “enhanced” while listening to the finished product, then go out to the clubs just to take a break, then we would repeat again the next day. We basically would record two songs a day. We’ve talked about doing a follow up but we both are busy with our own schedules. The last joint we did together is a song called “Classic” that I produced for his solo album Frankie Rothstein on Delicious Vinyl in 2015. Besides his own solo projects as well as the Yancey Boys and Frank n Dank albums, he’s currently in charge of the California chapter of the James Dewitt Yancey Foundation as well as still being an artist on Delicious Vinyl. We’ll definitely going to work on new music soon in the near future.

Loops, Chops, Beats & Vibes (VOL. 2) was recently released in honor of your 50th birthday. What’s the significance of said release to you?

I’ve been releasing music for free on my Birthday (May 10th), whether an album or a mix, for the last 10 years as a way of saying thank you to everyone that has been following my DJ/producer career, and just as a way to promote my catalog and progress as an artist/DJ/producer. With Loops, Chops, Beats, & Vibes Vol. 2, I wanted to a little something different when I dropped this on my birthday this year. I wanted to actually treat it like an official album versus giving something away for free, so I actually sold the album instead and made an official music video for the project. I made a video to the joint called “West Coast Vibrations (An Ode To Souls)”, which is a flip of the original sample that was used on Souls Of Mischief’s 93 Til Infinity, hence the tribute to Souls Of Mischief. I even wanted to shoot the video in the same vibe or essence of 93 Til Infinity, except highlighting Los Angeles and some of the cities that make up Los Angeles County. The video was shot and edited by Dj Underkut of Open Format LA, and he did a great job! I was really surprised and honored by the response for both the album and the video – it really meant the world to me that people went out and supported this album. That was definitely a great birthday gift to me for turning 50, and it tells me that I’m still doing something right. So everyone that purchased this album, I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart!

How would you say your process, approach, sound, style, etc. for Loops, Chops, Beats, & Vibes Vol. 2 differs from that of 2018’s Loops, Chops, Beats, & Vibes Vol. 1?

The approach to Volume 2 in terms of how the production was done is a combination of how I made the beats on Volume 1, by doing a cut & paste style strictly using Pro Tools only and making beats on the Propellerhead Reason program like I did on my Rhett Got Beats album. When I made Volume 1, I originally wanted to challenge myself and go back to making beats on my MPC2000 but it wasn’t working; so when that wasn’t working, I tried to turn on my SP1200 machine, but that wasn’t working either. I didn’t want to make beats on Reason because that’s what I’m currently using right now, but I still wanted to challenge myself for the fuck of it. I decided to try make beats on Pro Tools by doing a lot of cut, paste, and layering. I went digging for records for a good month and just basically pick any record from the stash I bought, record it on Pro Tools and just basically start chopping away. It was more tedious but I had a lot of fun doing it.  With Volume 2, I wanted to continue the tradition, but I also have been making beats on Reason that I really liked and I didn’t want to put them to the side; plus I was also on a time constraint. So I decided to put some of my Reason beats that I liked a lot (plus the Nipsey Hussle tribute track that I made last to finish up the album), made a few tracks with the same Pro Tools procedure, and arranged them together so I can beat my personal deadline. I’m very proud of the end product, if I do say so myself! [laughs].

I know you were J Dilla’s touring DJ for a string of shows through Europe with Frank n Dank and Phat Kat; happen to have any particularly memorable stories from your time spent on the road with Dilla?

When Dilla was still alive and living in LA, I always told him if he ever needs scratches from me, I got him. And we actually talked about doing some work together. He always had love for the Junkies, especially for J.Rocc.  J.Rocc is the 3rd member of Jaylib so it makes sense that he was Dilla and Madlib’s DJ. Dilla had a real small circle of people that he would hang out  with and trust in LA; I was very lucky to be considered to be part of that circle in his last years. Originally Dilla asked J to go out with him on tour to Europe, but he couldn’t make it because he was scheduled to go out on the road already with Madlib. When I got the call from Dilla that he wanted me to go out on the road with him, Frank n Dank and Phat Kat, I said let’s go. I hit up J to thank him for recommending me for the job, but J said he didn’t even say anything to him – that was all Dilla’s idea. I was shocked and honored. Around this time as well, I knew he was sick, but I didn’t know to what extent until we met at the airport. To tell you the truth, the whole tour was memorable to me because Dilla personally asked me to be his tour DJ, plus I was able to bond with him, Mama Yancey aka Ma Dukes (Dilla’s Mother), Frank N Dank, Phat Kat, and Dave New York (Dilla brought him along as well). We all didn’t know this was going to be Dilla’s last tour ever, but I think he already knew and he wanted to do it for the fans regardless of his health. I also think that this was his way of saying this is our chance to work together….I will never forget this experience for the rest of my life. Thank you, Dilla!

What’s the current status of your long-time crew, The World Famous Beat Junkies or any of its affiliated entities?

The Beat Junkies are still going strong. We celebrated our 20 Year Anniversary in 2012 by doing shows in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco as well as in Europe and Japan. We were really surprised how many fans, young and old were still excited to see us perform and how much people are still checking for us even though we never stopped.  Because of that, we decided to get serious in terms of building our own business by relaunching our merch such as shirts and hats, and launch the Beat Junkies Digital Record Pool (www.beatjunkies.com). From there, we were able to launch our very own radio station, Beat Junkie Radio in conjunction with Dash Radio, a free app that was designed and founded by Dj Skee (www.dashradio.com/beatjunkieradio). I actually have my own radio show on the station called “Soundcheck” that airs live every 2nd & 4th Tuesday. I’ve been lucky to have guests such as Diamond D, Agallah The Don, Blu & Exile, MED, Defari, as well as Dirty Diggs, Supreme Cerebral, & many more. When we celebrated our 25th Anniversary in 2017, we were figuring out what would be our next business venture. From there we started our own DJ school called the Beat Junkie Institute Of Sound in the City of Glendale, Ca. (www.beatjunkiesound.com). We’ve been open for 2 years now and the school has been slowly growing. If you asked us 5-10 years ago that we would have our own DJ school & become instructors, we would’ve looked at you crazy. In January 2018, we officially launched Beatjunkies.tv (www.beatjunkies.tv), our online DJ school, which is an extension of the Beat Junkie Institute Of Sound. Everything that we teach at our school, we also teach online; it’s for those who want to learn how to DJ from us, but either cannot make it to our school or live very far, or for those who want to learn at their own pace. We’re still working on other projects, either as a crew or as individuals, but by the grace of God, hopefully we can keep on going till the wheels fall off.

I’m personally a big fan of your 2016 release, Circa 2004: Blaccmatic with Aloe Blacc! Although, I’ve always been curious: how exactly did this collaboration come to be?

Thank you very much, that means a lot. As the title suggested, the Blaccmatic album was made in 2004. A lot of fans of Aloe Blacc, the singer, don’t know that he’s a talented MC as well, and is in a group called Emanon with producer extraordinaire Exile (Blu, Fashawn, King Choosey). Around this time, Aloe was branching out working on his own material while Exile was in the beginning stages of working with Blu. For myself, nobody knew me really as a producer except for my work with the Visionaries, and I wanted to expand and work with different artists. Aloe and myself talked about doing some work together and then finally he said “just give me a beat CD”. Then one day while I was working at Fat Beats LA, he stopped by and gave me a CD with “Aloe Blacc & Rhettmatic” written on top of it. When I got home to listen to it, I was blown away because he practically made a whole album of all the beats I gave him. One of the songs “Find A Way”, had someone singing, me not knowing that it was Aloe singing himself. When I asked him who was singing, he told me it was him….I was so blown away. Then right there, this was a star in the making. That particular song was supposed to be featured on his Stones Throw debut album Shine Through but didn’t make it, but it did make it on the B-Side of the “I’m Beautiful” 12″ single. On a side note: I also let my dear friend and producer extraordinaire Dj Khalil (Self Scientific, Aftermath) hear “Find A Way” and he immediately asked me who the artist was. He also bugged out when he found out who it was….”You mean, Aloe as in Aloe Blacc from Emanon?? I need to work with him!”. I was able to connect them both and then a couple of years later, they collaborated on a song you might’ve heard or seen on a Beats By Dre commercial called “I’m The Man”.

We never got to officially put the project out because eventually Aloe got signed to Stones Throw and I started working on the Visionaries’ We Are The Ones album. Over the years, we have talked about putting it out but then eventually, Aloe became the talented and respected singer that he is now. When I decided that I wanted to put it out, I asked Aloe permission first to see if he was down with the idea of releasing the project, he said yes, as long it was a free download. He still wanted people to hear our project. When I released the project in 2016, we had such a positive reaction. Fans of Aloe Blacc the MC were happy to hear an unreleased project with him spitting bars; fans of Aloe Blacc the soul singer, didn’t even know the history of Aloe as an emcee and were blown away. Really glad that people got to listen to this project and the positive feedback was the icing on the cake.

I know you’ve worked with everyone from Guilty Simpson to Ras Kass… but do you have any currently vaulted/unreleased collaborations you’re looking forward to the hip-hop-loving world hearing one day?

Who knows, that’s a good question. I do have some joints in the vault that I did with J-Ro of Tha Liks and Defari, K-Solo, an unreleased Key-Kool & Rhettmatic song & some other artists that I worked with in the early 2000’s that never came out officially. If my small core of fans really want to hear some old/unreleased material of mine, then I might put it out….or maybe redo it over. But I do know I have more work to do….

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Buy Rhettmatic’s music here. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Read our oral history of Key Kool & Rhettmatic’s Kozmonautz album from earlier this year.

Matt Horowitz has been a hip-hop fan ever since he first heard Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) back in the mid-90’s, which positively or negatively changed his life ever since, depending on who you ask. He single-handedly runs online music publication The Witzard, and has been fortunate enough to interview Eothen ‘Egon’ Alapatt, Guilty Simpson, Ice-T and Mr. X, Dan Ubick, Career Crooks’ Zilla Rocca & Small Professor, Cut Chemist, and J-Zone, amongst countless others. He enjoys writing about and listening to hip-hop, Punk/Hardcore, and Indie Rock on vinyl with his lovely wife, while drinking craft beer, red wine, or iced coffee. To paraphrase both Darko The Super and the Beastie Boys: “Already Dead fans, they want more of this… I’m a Witzard like my man Matt Horowitz!”. Follow Matt here.